


sick

by sleepiemaggie



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, and rin taking care of his sick lil sis, features rinharu and makogou, haru making fun of him for it, mainly focuses on the matsuoka siblings though, with rin gushing about his little sis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1001959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepiemaggie/pseuds/sleepiemaggie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in which gou is sick and misses practice, and rin is a good big brother, with some rinharu and makogou to top it off.  rated t for mild suggestive themes and rin's potty mouth.  a self-indulgent fic, for the most part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sick

Gou feels horrible by the end of the school day. She’s nauseous, and it’ll be a wonder if she doesn’t end up throwing up by the end of the night. There’s also a dull, faint ache in her head, which makes her feel light-headed whenever she’s not sitting. She can only imagine what she must look like – there’s probably no color in her cheeks, and her eyes are probably puffy. In other words, she’s probably looking as sick as a dog. She hates having to go through the day at school looking like this.

The first-year sighs as she gathers her books into her bag, heaving it up onto her desk. She takes it slow when she stands, but she still can’t see for a few seconds as the blood rushes to her head. Leaning on the desk with one hand, she pulls her bag up on one shoulder, too exhausted to make the effort to reach for the other strap. She’s the last one out of the classroom, which doesn’t surprise her at all.

She quietly walks through the crowded halls, trying to shrug away from people pushing their way through when the crowd is too slow. A few times she gets pushed, and she stumbles a little, but for the most part she can uphold her balance. It seems to take forever for her to get through the crowd, though, and when she finally gets to her locker, located in a lone corner of the school, it seems like everyone else already got to theirs and left. _Well, it is a Friday, after all,_ she thinks to herself. _Everyone wants to get out of here._

Gou begins chucking books into her locker, taking out her assignment pad to remind her of the ones she needs for homework. She turns to where she’s written today’s work and places the book on the ground, looking at the assignments as she replaces books into the locker. Stuffing a few other books into her bag, she doesn’t even notice when Makoto arrives next to her, leaning on the lockers next to hers.

“Hey,” he greets, and the poor girl almost jumps when she hears him. She turns around, holding a particularly heavy textbook in almost-shaking hands. He notices this and takes it from her, leaning up only slightly to place it in her locker.

“Thanks,” she mumbles, taking out her swim jacket. “How was your day?” She puts one arm through a sleeve and reaches back with the other, trying to find the other sleeve.

His laugh is soft as he holds up the other side of the jacket, effectively helping her to get the other arm through. “It was good. How are you feeling?”

She averts her eyes as she zips the jacket up. “Still pretty bad. I think I’m gonna skip practice and go home.”

As much as she hates to miss practice, she also doesn’t feel like losing her lunch in front of a bunch of muscular guys. And there was going to be a lot of guys there, considering the Samezuka team was coming for a joint practice. She feels a little bad that Captain Mikoshiba won’t get to see her, because although she has a wonderful loving boyfriend in Makoto, she’s not oblivious to the fact that Samezuka’s captain brightens up whenever she’s around. Absentmindedly she hopes he won’t be too hard on the team in her absence.

“Ah, alright.” Makoto leans down to grab her bag for her and kisses her forehead as he’s straightening back up. He opens his mouth to say more but he’s cut off when she hugs him. He drops the bag gently and brings his arms to rest on her waist. He wishes he could kiss her, but Gou’s insisted no kisses until she’s a hundred percent better, lest he get sick too.

The swim club’s manager stands on her toes to kiss his jaw, the highest she can reach. She pulls away with a slight pout, reaching for her bag. He laughs, helping her lift the bag and easing it onto her back.

The pout remains as she faces him. “Sorry we haven’t had any time together lately,” she peeks up at him through her dark eyelashes. “Next weekend, I promise! My mom’s gonna be away on business again, and we won’t have to worry about big brother because he’ll probably be at Haruka-senpai’s anyway, and -”

“You don’t have to worry, Gou,” the tall brunet laughs, patting her head. “You’re sick. I understand completely.” He drops his hand to brush it down her arm and grab hers. “Yeah, it sucks that we haven’t had any time alone, but that’s just how things go sometimes. Besides,” he pulls her closer to lean down and whisper against the side of her face, “it just makes it so much more worth it when we finally do get to hang out.” He bravely tries to bite gently at her ear but she pushes him away before he gets the chance.

The pout is gone now and a small smirk replaces it. “When did you get so bold?” she asks, laughing a little. “I liked it better when you were shy and bashful and I was in charge.” Gou yanks on his collar and leans up to bite his neck, pushing him away almost immediately after. She can tell it’s going to leave a mark and wishes she could be there when the other guys tease him about it.

Makoto chuckles blushingly at the action, scratching the back of his neck as he flushes slightly. Gou’s smirk grows wider, knowing she still can cause him these reactions.

“You should probably get going,” he says after a while, his smile deflating at the thought of parting. “Don’t want to have to wait for the next train, right?”

Her grin also deflates. “Yeah,” she agrees, moving to briefly hug him again. Pulling back, she peers up at him again, asking, “Text me when practice is over, okay?” She bats her eyelashes innocently.

“Of course.” He smiles his signature smile, with his eyes slipped closed and brows upturned, head cocking slightly to the side. Gou can’t help but think she’s never seen anything sweeter than his smile. She’s about to say goodbye when he interrupts her. “Do you want me to walk you to the station?”

“No, I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’s just a bit of lightheadedness, nothing too severe,” she assures him. In the back of her mind she rolls her eyes.

He nods, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Be careful. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

It’s her turn to nod, murmuring a quiet thanks as he pulls away. He gives her one last smile before he leaves, probably to regroup with Haruka, Nagisa and Rei. She watches his back until he turns down a hall and disappears.

With a slight smile on her face, Gou turns back to her locker to shut it decisively and twirl the lock. She picks up her assignment pad from the floor and turns from the lockers, beginning her way down the main hallway that leads to the entrance of the school. She absentmindedly looks down at her fingernails, running the pads of her fingers over chipped nail polish and feeling for any callouses. _Maybe I’ll redo them tonight,_ she thinks to herself, chipping the paint even further.

She’s still not feeling the best, what with the nausea and the lightheadedness, but she’s not wobbling on her feet either, so that’s good. The same cannot be said for her back, though, because she swears she’s carrying every textbook imaginable in her bag. But she sticks through with it, trudging through the hall, feeling the ache in her back get slightly worse and worse with every footfall. She holds her assignment pad to her chest as she walks, looking down at her feet because her head’s still aching. Needless to say, it’s not really helped when she bumps into someone.

“Ah, sorry,” she begins wearily, reaching up fix her burgundy bangs, frowning in frustration. _Should’ve been looking where I was going,_ she scolds herself. Looking up at the person, she’s surprised when she finds a pair of wine-red eyes, much like her own, staring down at her. “Big brother!”

“Gou,” he greets back good-naturedly, leaning down to kiss her head. Standing straight again, he stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Where are you going? We have practice.”

Her brother’s been hanging out with the Iwatobi Swim Club after school before joint practices since the medley relay stunt at regionals. He always comes right after school before the rest of the Samezuka team arrives and they all just hang out in a lone classroom, fooling around. Gou feels bad each time she has to chase them out to get to practice, but it’s been good to see her older brother happy with his friends again.

She nods without thinking, wincing slightly as she remembers her headache. “Yeah. I’m just going home now because I’m feeling sick,” she tells him, reaching behind herself to pull her ponytail over her shoulder.

Rin raises an eyebrow slightly, giving her a look over. “Yeah, you’re looking pretty pale,” he mutters. Stepping closer to her, he lifts his hand to slip it under her bangs and feel her forehead. “Feeling pretty hot, too…”

His little sister shies away from the touch, feeling small. “I’m fine, though,” she assures him, taking ahold of his wrist and pulling his hand down. “Just need to take something to settle my stomach and take a nap. It’s nothing, really.”

He gives her a look, hesitating. “You sure?” he asks, looking her over again. He notes the slightly unfocused gaze in her eyes and can’t help but feel worried. “Let me at least walk you to the station,” he tries, but she stops him.

“No, I’m fine, really,” the sister insists. “Makoto offered too, but really, you don’t need to worry. I’m perfectly capable of getting home, alright?” A pout tugs at her lips. She loves that the guys care about her so much, but really, they need to understand that she can take care of herself.

Her brother sighs. “Fine,” he says, walking past her a few steps. She turns his way and he turns to her again. “Text me when you get home, okay? I’ll come home after practice and take care of you.”

“You don’t have to do that.” The frown grows deeper.

He replies immediately. “Yes, I do. Mom’s not gonna be home for at least another two days; like hell I’m gonna leave my baby sister home alone and sick. Go home and rest,” he tells her, giving her a serious look.

Ah, yes, how didn’t she remember? Their mother’s away on business, so Gou will have the house to herself. She doesn’t particularly like when that happens – the house feels so empty without someone else there. All the times in the past year that their mother was away and Gou was alone… it was especially hard on her, knowing that her brother was now not an ocean away but only a train ride, wishing to have him with her at home so it didn’t feel so lonely. After regionals, he did start coming home on the weekends, running back and forth between the house and hanging out with the guys, and many times she’d tag along with him, as they were her friends too now. The house started to lose its loneliness, and she was grateful. She cares about her brother a lot, and she missed him dearly when he was distant – in both senses of the word.

Gou sighs, resigning her argument. “Alright, fine.”

* * *

 

Rin and Haru always stay late after practice’s over, and today’s no different. The former usually swims lap after lap of butterfly, with a lazy lap of freestyle to end it off and cool down. The latter does whatever; sometimes he’ll swim a few laps of freestyle, other times he just floats on his back and relaxes. If he’s bored, he’ll watch Rin from a distance; watch the way his arms swing out of the water, the way his body moves as he tires himself out. It’s calming, really.

Rin’s standing at the end of a lane, grabbing at his swim cap and goggles while panting heavily. He takes a moment to collect himself, to get his heartbeat back to normal, get his breath back, before he climbs out. The back of his hand comes up to move hair out of his face as his gaze rests on Haru. Today he’s just floating, aimlessly drifting on the water’s surface. Rin’s lips tug up into a small smile. Seeing his boyfriend in such a tranquil state has that effect on him.

They couldn’t really pinpoint exactly when their friendship became a relationship, but that didn’t really matter, did it? It just… happened. And they’re both the happiest they’ve ever been. They’re two halves of one whole, in one sense. Living without each other by their side seems like an impossibility. Haru drives and pushes Rin to do the best he can while Rin never fails to draw out the competitive side of Haru. They swim their best when they’re in the presence of each other. Not to mention the fact that they can’t imagine having anyone else by their side. The relationship just felt… right. It’s not like anyone didn’t see it coming, either.

Rin grabs his towel and calls out to his boyfriend, telling him it’s getting late and they should leave. It’s not surprising when the hydrophiliac doesn’t respond at all, not even opening his eyes to look at the other. The maroon haired boy rolls his eyes amusedly, deciding that he’s gonna have to retrieve Haru himself.

He drops down into the lane where Haru’s floating and walks over to him. Circling his arms around the raven haired boy’s waist, Rin lifts him over his shoulder in one swift motion. Of course this gets the attention of Haru, whose eyes pop open, and he yelps.

“Let me down,” he says with a slight blush, pouting a little. Rin just wants to kiss that pout away.

With a grin, he replies, “Never,” and instead kisses the closest part of Haru’s body – his hip, covered by his jammers. The blush on the other boy grows darker.

Rin walks over to the edge of the pool and seats Haru there. He once again lifts himself out and holds out a hand to help the other up. Haru takes it and hoists himself up, not letting go of the hand. Rin grins at this and leans over to kiss the corner of his mouth, letting go of his hand to retrieve his towel again. He tosses Haru’s towel to him and pulls his own over his shoulders. Haru does the same and they both walk to the locker room.

As they’re heading to the showers, Rin tells Haru that he can’t go back to his place. They usually do that every Friday, and Rin stays over the whole weekend. “Gou’s sick and I want to at least make sure she’s fine before leaving her alone in an empty house, y’know?” he explains, turning on the water. “If she’s okay then I’ll come by later. She probably will be – she texted me earlier when she got home and said she was feeling a lot better.”

Haru makes a noise of acknowledgement as he steps into the stall beside Rin’s. “So that’s why she wasn’t at practice?”

“Yeah,” Rin says as he washes his hair. “And why Mikoshiba worked us so damn hard, damn him. It’s immature how upset he gets when Gou isn’t at practice,” he all but growls.

The other gives a small laugh as he showers. “I bet you’re happy she’s with Makoto, then.”

He nods even though Haru can’t see him. “At least I actually like Makoto. And he’s reliable, too. Honestly, she can’t be in better hands than his. Although, that does make it no fun for me – can’t beat him up for being with my little sis, can I? He’s a fuckin’ giant!”

Haru actually chuckles now. “But you’d never have a reason to,” he reasons. “He’d never hurt her. You know that.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Especially when he’s so obviously not the dominant one in the relationship,” he snickers. “I mean, did you see that bite mark on his neck? Gou totally tops the hell out of him!” Rin laughs, full of pride. The idea of his short little sister being in control of her relationship with the tallest of their group is definitely amusing.

Rolling his eyes, Haru just mutters, “Like brother, like sister…”

* * *

 

Rin gets home around six o’clock and the sun is just beginning to set. He welcomes the slight breeze as the sun goes down. Damn his Samezuka sweats – they get so hot in the sun because of their dark color. He drops his bag in the hall as he walks in and slips off his shoes. He’s about to yell up to Gou that he’s home when he hears her violent coughing.

“That doesn’t sound good,” he mutters to himself.

He walks up the stairs and goes to her bedroom, only to find she isn’t there. He hears a few more coughs followed by a retch, and he sighs. _Sounds like she wasn’t feeling better after all._

Turning from her doorway, he goes to the bathroom and finds her kneeling on the floor, leaning over the toilet. She’s clad in sweatpants that look way too big for her and a t-shirt, and her hair is down. It looks like she’s having difficulty keeping it back as she leans down. He drops down on the floor beside her and gingerly takes her long hair into his hands, holding it back for her. They sit there for a few more minutes as Gou continues to throw up. When she’s done, she sits back into her brother wearily.

“You good?” Rin asks gently, rubbing small circles on her shoulder in an attempt to be gentle.

Gou nods a little and swallows, wincing. “Yeah,” she croaks weakly. “Yeah, I think I’m done.”

Her big brother reaches over her to grab a tissue, using it to wipe her mouth. He tosses it into the trash and releases her hair, watching as it all tumbles down her shoulders, down to her lower back. “Your hair got so long,” he remarks.

“So did yours,” she replies, deadpanning slightly as she looks back with a weak grin.

He returns the grin, leaning over to kiss the side of her head. Sometimes she reminds him so much of himself that it’s scary. “Why didn’t you just keep it up?”

She furrows her eyebrows, shooting him an exhausted look. “You try keeping your hair up in a high ponytail all day. My head literally aches from it.”

He laughs shortly. “Do you need anything?” he asks, making a move to get up.

“Mm, maybe some water to wash this gross taste in my mouth.”

Rin nods and offers his back to her. She climbs onto him weakly, holding onto his neck and hooking her legs over his waist. He stands and even though she feels like shit, Gou can’t be happier with all the attention he’s giving her. She nuzzles into the side of his neck, tired. When he threatens to murder her if she throws up on him, she just smiles.

He walks down the stairs carefully. In the kitchen, he lets go of her legs to grab a glass, and she wraps them around his waist to support herself. He goes to the freezer to get ice cubes and drops them in the glass, then moves to the sink to fill it. With that he returns to the stairs and walks up them, again being careful with not only Gou on his back but also a full glass in his hand.

Rin places the glass on the nightstand and sits on the edge of the bed. Gou detaches herself from him slowly, sighing at the loss of contact. He takes the glass and hands it to her.

“Little sips,” he advises, watching as she raises the glass to her mouth.

She tries to listen to him, but the water does so much to wash the taste out and soothe her throat, so it’s difficult. After a few sips, she puts the glass back and yawns, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm.

Her big brother smiles and pats her head. “Maybe you should take a nap. You’re not up to eating anything, right?”

She shrinks under the force of his hand. “Not really. A nap does sound nice, though.”

“Alright.” He moves to stand up, but he’s stopped when she pulls on his sleeve.

His little sister looks at him with a pout, one eyebrow raised and her eyes big. “Stay with me.”

How can he say no to her, especially when she asks him like that? Damn her, she knows she can get him to do anything for her. He nods, moving back on the bed. Picking her up bridal style, he seats her in between his legs with her legs swung over his one lower thigh as he leans back against the headboard. She rests her head on his chest, one hand clutching his shirt loosely. His arm supports her from falling back and the other wraps lightly around her waist. He’s almost positive she’s asleep, but then she speaks up.

“Sorry, big brother. And thanks,” she murmurs quietly, cuddling the side of her head against him.

Rin raises an eyebrow, looking down at her. “Why?”

She squirms a little, trying to get more comfortable. “Because you’re supposed to be hanging out with your boyfriend on Friday nights, not taking care of your little sister.”

He tinges just the slightest bit of red when she refers to his “boyfriend,” not quite used to it yet. But he sighs and squeezes her arm. “Don’t be. I’m your big brother; I’m supposed to take care of you.” _Even though I haven’t been doing a very good job of it lately,_ he adds mentally, frowning at himself.

“Mm,” is all she says in reply. He can feel her growing heavier with fatigue, and he rubs his thumb against her hair. Then, quietly, she speaks again. “Big brother?”

“Huh?”

She looks up at him almost shyly. “I love you.” Her voice is a little slurred by sleepiness.

He lifts a hand to her head and pushes her bangs up to expose her forehead, to which he leans down and kisses. “Love you, too.”

Gou shoots him a small smile before burrowing the side of her face into his chest again. Does his sister have to be this cute, or is she trying to kill him? He kisses the top of her head again.

She falls asleep not much later, and Rin is kind of trapped there. With nothing else to do, he takes his phone out of his pocket. _May as well give Haru a heads up,_ he thinks as he opens a new message and begins to type.

_Kind of have a little sister sleeping in my lap right now, doesn’t look like I’m gonna be over. Sorry._

Hitting send, he waits for a response, which he gets a few moments later.

_Cute._

That’s all it says, but Rin can just barely hear Haru’s sarcastic tone in his head. He begins typing again, grinning.

_Damn right. She’s the cutest little sister ever and she knows it, dammit. She knows she can make me do anything for her. What the hell, man._

Send. He yawns now, stretching the arm that was at Gou’s waist and covering his mouth with his hand. His phone buzzes with a reply.

_I didn’t know you had such a little sister complex, Rin. That’s pretty cute, too._

“Fuck you,” he mumbles, smirking. His typing speeds up.

_You’re just jealous I don’t gush this much about you. My little sis is the best sister I could’ve ever asked for; I’m just returning the favor since I’ve been such a shitty brother this past year._

He sends it, yawning again. His eyelids are feeling heavy and his sister’s even breathing is lulling him to sleep. His phone’s vibration shakes him awake again.

_Whatever you say._

Rin gives a crooked smile. It’s so like Haru to dismiss him so shortly. His typing slows down, as he’s fallen half asleep already.

_Sure. Alright, I’m falling asleep – I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you._

He stuffs the phone into his pocket and holds his little sister closer, snuggling her. He’s just about asleep when his phone buzzes again. He slides it out of his pocket just enough to see the screen and smiles warmly.

_Love you too._

And so, with that warm smile on his face, Rin falls asleep snuggling his sister, feeling the happiest he felt since he reconciled with his friends. Gou subconsciously smiles the same smile as he squeezes her tighter. Neither sibling can be happier than they are in this moment.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos would make my day!! uwu


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